RC2 of Vista Ultimate is a good indication of what we might expect in the final release.

I have been following the releases of Windows Vista Ultimate since the initial beta offering and have focussed on the 32 bit editions as they are more compatible with current hardware and present less driver installation issues.

With the advent of RC2, apparently the final pre-release before the Release to Manufacturers and then us the public, we are seeing the final culmination of the features that microsoft wants to present in their latest addition to the Windows lineup.

Firstly, the installation of this release was a lot faster than previous editions and went without hitch. As soon as windows was installed the welcome center appeared to guide me through the features, and more importantly windows update kicked in and grabbed not only security updates, but also the latest drivers for my hardware, making the install complete and ready to roll.

The first thing you will notice (if you have a reasonably modern graphics card) is the great new look of Vista. Some examples would be of course the much bandied about "Aero" theme and transparent windows/fade effects etc. Also the 3D window switcher is nice, if eye candy is your thing. One new feature that not only looks great but is actually usefull is the thumbnail feature, whereby you can hover your mouse over your taskbar items and it will give you a realtime look at what's going on in that window, great if you want to see the progress of a download at a glance, or to see the progress of a web page etc ithout having to open it up...cool! The new sidebar is also quite slick, with a similar feel to widgets (Konfabulator) with some nice 'gadgets' pre-installed and others available on the web. You could have the time, date and CPU Usage on your desktop, or your itunes collection, or stocks, there is pretty much something for everyone here.

Apart from that, the functionality is similar to windows XP, but slightly rounded, ie some features are not as 'visible' e.g. you cannot see the progress of a defrag etc. and the new UAC (User Account Control) is a regular pain in the....... this feature basically asks you to confirm runnig any unknown program, installing any driver and is a regular pain, and is usually switched off almost immediately. This 'optional' feature has become more easily accessible this time round, and can be found in security centre.

The new security centre is much like XP's security centre, with

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